Family
by Nikani
Summary: Pre-Defiance. A little bit of a glimpse into some of the family dynamic between Nolan and Irisa. Just a short one shot.


Fell in love with this show on the very first airing and hope that they continue with the family side of things between Nolan and Irisa.

Don't own anything, make no money from it, thank you Syfy channel for showing it!

_Nolan – _

_My daughter is forever writing something in the books she carries with her and from what little I see of it, it appears to be in her native tongue of Irathient. While I can speak it fluently at this point, my reading of it isn't the best, though I would never betray her confidence and trust in me by doing so. These are her thoughts she writes and if she wants to share them with me, she certainly knows that I would listen. Irisa isn't considered beautiful by most human standards; with her flaming red hair, striking amber/green eyes, and lithe build most people underestimate her, considering her too young to be of consequence. However, having raised her for the majority of her life, I find her to be beautiful, insightful, highly intelligent, and as fiery and dangerous as her hair marks her._

_I only wish that I wasn't such a disappointment to her…_

_~~**Defiance**~~_

"_Shtako_, Nolan, not again!"

"Now, Irisa, please; it wasn't my fault this time…"

Whirling away from his outstretched hands so fast her shoulder-length hair flashed out, Irisa Nyira stormed away from their roller to stand at the edge of the woods that rose up on either side of them. Bracing her hands on the trunk of a large tree, she bowed her head and focused on calming her breathing before she pulled out one of her knives and used it to emasculate the man she called father. She was never a fan of towns to begin with (too many people taking up too little space) but it seemed like every time they spend more than 24 hours in one, the idiot who raised her did something to piss off everyone.

In this particular case, he'd found himself a human female to bed who happen to have a very large and angry husband who didn't particularly like discovering her in bed with another man. Irisa had been sitting outside the small boarding house they were supposed to be staying at when he roared up the street, yelling for her to get in, while being chased by furious man who waved around and fired off a gun every chance he got. She'd dove into the roller even as Nolan gunned it and fishtailed their way out of the town.

She understood that he had certain needs. When she'd been six years old, he'd explained the human "birds and the bees" to her. After she got done laughing at him, she enlightened him on the Irathient equivalent and was never sure if he was amused or horrified by her explanation. Irisa knew that he occasionally needed female company beyond what she could give him as his adopted daughter and traveling companion and she certainly didn't begrudge him that. What she took exception to was the fact that the man simply went after anything that caught his fancy rather than being a little more discriminating in his tastes.

Joshua Nolan hung his head as his daughter stalked off. Once again he'd been stupid, gotten them into trouble, and disillusioned the girl he adored. Irisa was his entire life and he couldn't love her more if he'd been her natural father, but he seemed doomed to forever fail her in some way. He banged his head lightly against the door of his roller as he muttered irritably at himself for the trouble he'd caused. The tracker had hoped to have a quiet evening or two in the town, replenish their supplies, have a quick tumble or two with some pretty ladies, and rest in a real bed; it also gave the Irathient girl a chance to spend time among other people and work on her socialization skills without pulling out a knife every time someone breathed in her direction.

The best laid plans of mice and men.

How was he to know that the woman he'd been idling flirting with at the bar was married? It's not like she announced it or wore a ring or anything to tell him she wasn't available. In hindsight, he probably should have asked and made himself a promise to do so in the future. A sudden movement from the direction of his daughter brought his attention out of self-recriminations and a surge of adrenalin had him hyper-focusing on her as she abruptly bolted into the woods.

"Irisa!" As Nolan raced after her, he wondered if he'd finally pushed her too far with his screw-ups and broken promises and she was abandoning him to strike out on her own. He couldn't let her go like this; he had to talk to her before she just arbitrarily left him.

The girl was in excellent shape and able to run for a long time before tiring so he was happy when she stopped as quickly as she'd started since he wasn't as young as he used to be and couldn't keep up with her for the long haul. As Josh stumbled to a halt behind her and started to reach for her shoulders to turn her around, Irisa raised one hand as she seemed to fixate on something ahead of them. He trusted in her keen hearing and sharp eyesight so he froze in place, one hand releasing the gun his hip and gripping it tightly.

Edging forward slowly, Irisa partially crouched as she placed each foot exactly so nothing crunched beneath her steps while her father watched with pride before following just as silently. That was at least one thing he'd done correctly, he'd taught her about tracking, hunting, and moving as silent as a cat. There was a thrashing noise coming from ahead of them and after several slow minutes of cautious maneuvering, they were able to see a mutated deer with its oversized antlers caught in some thick branches where it had been rubbing and now couldn't get free.

Lifting his gun, Josh exchanged a glance with Irisa and after receiving a nod from her, fired a single shot, taking down the animal without pain and suffering and the two immediately got to work doing a rapid field dressing on the creature and dragging it back to the roller. Between them, they were able to lift it and strap it to the back before climbing in heading further down the road where they'd noticed the faint glimmer of water hidden amongst the trees on their way into town. Nolan tucked the vehicle behind a large outcropping of rocks that would shield them from prying eyes and spotted a decent sized cave there as well they could shelter in for the night.

The pair unloaded the deer and brought it closer to the water where Irisa pulled out one of her longer knives and went to work skinning and portioning the animal while her father gathered a large amount of firewood. He made sure they had enough not only to last them through the night and beyond, but enough that they would be able to work on drying the meat thoroughly to have for later. Returning to the girl, he accepted the steaks she handed him and carried them back to the cave entrance where he'd started a fire for them. Pulling some herbs from one of the many bags they carried, he seasoned the meat and situated it over the fire to slow cook for their dinner, then made his way around the small pool of water collecting various roots and greens.

Irisa began carrying the carved pieces of meat over to the second fire where Nolan had set up their drying rack and began the tedious job of hanging everything to cure. When he returned, the man joined her and helped hang before wrapping a larger chunk in some leaves and tucking it carefully against a couple of now warm stones to cook slowly through the night for breakfast. When they were finally finished, the Irathient teen tugged off her shoes, removed her various knives from their hiding places, grabbed a bar of hard soap, and returned to the pool of water to walk in fully dressed. She was filthy from dealing with the meat and blood and wanted to get cleaned up while she had some reasonably fresh water to do so.

After making sure the meat was safe for a while and dinner was not in danger of burning, Josh grabbed his daughter's pack and pulled out some clean clothes for her, then got some out for himself. Placing both sets on a large flat rock, he stripped down to his underwear and waded in to clean up as well. Sinking under the water to wet his hair, he sighed sadly as he realized they had just spent the last couple of hours in complete silence. She was really mad at him if she didn't make at least some kind of comment about his cooking or cleanliness. When he came back up, Irisa had drifted closer to him and offered the soap, swimming away as soon as he accepted it. Nolan muttered to himself as he lathered himself up and washed his hair, again dropping below the water's surface so he could rinse off.

When he came up, Josh had the chance to take a single breath before he was attacked and driven forward into the water by a blur of red. Fortunately, he was in water shallow enough that all he had to do was plant his feet and push himself upright to free his upper body from the pool. As he straightened, small, strong hands beat against his shoulders as wiry, cloth covered legs locked around his waist. Nolan knew that if she'd actually wanted to hurt him, the girl would have pulled a knife out; this was just to make a point.

Reaching up, Josh gently caught hold of the Irathient's slender wrists and drew them over his shoulders and around his neck so that she rested against his back, clinging to him like a barnacle. She tightened her hold on him and slowly burrowed her head against his, bright red hair mingling with his own brown. It was something she'd done ever since he'd rescued her and taken her with him; when distressed, hurt, or scared, the young female would snuggle her head tight against his own, sometimes tucking her nose in the crook of his neck. He didn't know if it was something inherent in her race, or just a quirk of Irisa's, but he wasn't about to complain or deny her.

"I'm sorry, kiddo, I seem to attract trouble wherever we go and you're usually the one dealing with the fallout."

"You bring most of it on yourself without any assistance, you know. If you'd just stop and think once in a while, we wouldn't be in this mess on a regular basis and I wouldn't be contemplating patricide all the time."

He nudged her head with his own and lightly stroked his fingers over the ridges of scarring on her wrists, "I don't know what I did to deserve you, kiddo, but I thank whatever deity is listening for placing you in my path that day. I don't say it enough and I should, but I love you, Irisa."

She tucked herself closer, nose finding that hollow where his neck and shoulder joined, and whispered, "I love you, too, dad."

Despite her wrapped around him from behind, Nolan was an active man who was kept in prime physical condition by the demands of the world he lived in, so it wasn't hard for him to wade through the water to the rock where he'd left their clothing and climb out. He turned so his back was to the rock and the girl released him to stand on it. Leaning down, she picked up his clothes to hand to him before gathering up her own and hopping down. Irisa wasn't shy but Nolan had always been the gentleman with her and either turned his back or gave her privacy in some way to change once she was old enough to not need any help. He stood at one end of the rock facing away from her as he pulled off his wet underwear and dragged on a dry outfit and she did the same on her own end, taking a little more time since she was still in her clothes from before where she'd washed them while in the pool and they clung to her.

Once dressed, she lightly bumped him with her arm as she passed, making her way to the shelter of the cave and the warmth of the fire. The sun was slowly setting and the air was beginning to cool off so she shrugged into a light jacket as well to stave off the chill. Following behind her, Josh caught the one she tossed him deftly with a soft word of thanks and turned his attention to the roasting meat. Finding it well on its way to being done, he took out a camp grill and placed a skillet on top over the fire so he could cook the greens and roots he'd gathered earlier. As he cooked, he talked about his younger years, growing up in St. Louis, days at the park with his family, playing games, stuff he looked back on now and missed more than he ever thought he could.

Irisa listened to her father, his voice quiet and soothing as he talked of the past. She knew that part of why he did this was to help her get over her trauma as a child before he found her (he desperately wanted her to move past what happened so she had a brighter future) and partly he was comforted himself by his memories and wanted to share them with her. She was reticent by nature but enjoyed letting him go on and on about his life. He was actually a good cook, though she rarely told him so, and much better than she was. The Irathient girl had tried her hand at cooking a couple of times with disastrous results so they had agreed that he would be in charge there and she would help out by butchering and collecting food when needed.

Putting everything onto a pair of plates, Josh handed one to his daughter and settled down beside her to eat. It wasn't often they got things this fresh, usually having to eat jerky and whatever they could find off the land if they couldn't trade for something better, so they made the most of it while they could. After eating the hearty meal, which she actually complimented him on, Irisa took things down to the pool to wash them while the tracker finished setting up camp for the night. The girl usually took first watch and woke him halfway through the night to take over, so he was ready when she came back to give her a peck on the forehead and tell her goodnight before crawling under his blankets. She leaned against the rock wall behind her, took out her ever-present book, and began to write.

_~~**Defiance**~~_

_Irisa – _

_I love my father. I know that Nolan isn't my natural father, he's made sure over the years that I don't forget my Irathient heritage, but he's the only person I would honor with that designation. He drives me crazy sometimes with his foolhardy behavior and somehow, no matter how many times we get ahead, we always end up further behind at the end of the day. He tells me stories of his life as a child and as a former marine, tales of family and friends; but he is the only family I have, or want. And he is my only friend. I know he's taught me to be as independent as possible; that way if something should happen to him, I can make my own way in the world and take care of myself, but he's also extremely protective of me and hates it whenever I get hurt in some way._

_At least he loves me and doesn't go to pieces when the nightmares encroach or when he sees blood…_

_~~**Defiance**~~_

Nolan had scouted the small town cautiously before he ever made the decision to try going in. He wanted to trade some things for supplies if at all possible and see what the mood of the people was. He quickly noticed that it was only humans; none of the Votan races were visible at all which meant that they weren't friendly to aliens. He could only hope they would be friendly to him long enough to get some supplies.

He returned to where he left his daughter with the roller and broke the news, "Kiddo, I'm afraid that these folks aren't going to like seeing you with me so I need you to stay here and out of trouble while I'm gone."

She gave him a hard look with those unearthly amber/green eyes and pointed out, "I'm not the one who got us chased out of the last town by an angry husband for sleeping with his wife."

As Josh turned away, he muttered, "He probably wouldn't have chased us out if you had been the one caught sleeping with his wife."

Irisa quickly smothered a laugh at that and shooed him on his way while she disappeared into the woods to see if she could do a little hunting while he was gone. Furs in perfect condition were high in trade value and with her knife skills, she could usually get them a few a couple of times a week and some were even edible. She just had to be careful of some of the more vicious mutates that could also be lurking around.

Driving the roller slowly into town, Nolan kept a sharp eye out for anything suspicious or potentially dangerous to his wellbeing and was relieved to only get some curious stares rather than hostility. Pulling up in front of a store that specialized in trade, he got out and carefully locked up so no one got any ideas to liberate things not belonging to them. As he stepped through the doorway, an older man came out of a back room and greeted him cautiously.

The tracker forced a friendly smile and held out his empty hands in the age old gesture to show he wasn't armed, "Good morning."

"Morning, welcome to Carthatown. What can I help you with?"

Not the best greeting he'd received, but certainly not the worst, "I had some things I was hoping to trade for supplies if you'll take them?"

That piqued that storekeeper's interest, "Have any decent furs? Most folks round here aren't good at trapping or skinning so I'm always on the lookout for some nice ones."

"I actually have several in my roller, let me grab them so you can see what I've got," Nolan's grin was genuine now; this could work out well for them if the man liked what he had.

He unloaded the numerous skins his daughter had so skillfully cured and rolled for him and brought them into the shop for the owner to look over. He could tell from the gleam in the man's eye that he'd hit pay dirt and should be able to get a decent amount of trade. They haggled back and forth over what he would receive for the furs and in the end, Nolan came out on top with everything he wanted and a nice handful of scrit that should last for some time if they used it wisely. Once he finished his deal and loaded the roller up for the return trip, the tracker decided to take some time to walk the little town and see what all they had to offer. Perhaps he'd get lucky and find a…lady friend…to keep company with for an hour or so; Irisa wouldn't expect him to rush back and so wouldn't worry.

He wandered in and out of a few different shops and discovered a small store that had some beautiful knives he just knew his daughter would love as well as some new blank journals for her to write in and a sketchbook. He even managed to find a couple of things for himself to add to the small pile and after dropping some scrit in the shop owner's hands, Nolan returned to his vehicle. Having been gone for nearly three hours, he decided it was time to grab some grub for them both and head back.

_~~**Defiance**~~_

After hunting for about an hour and bringing down several animals, some for skin, some for food, Irisa took advantage of her father's absence to collect all their dirty clothes and carry them down to the small pool of water for a thorough washing before laying them out over rocks, bushes, and trees to dry in the breeze. She again set up the drying rack and cut the usable meat up for jerky; once that was done, she picked up her journal and made herself comfortable on one of the rock outcroppings that sat partially over the water and began to write. When she ran out of things to put to paper, the young Irathient lay back on the rock and closed her eyes, losing herself in the sounds of nature. It was rare that she was able to indulge in her racial love of the ground beneath her feet, the sky above her, and the air swirling around her, so she took full advantage of the time.

Nearly dozing where she was so relaxed, Irisa was startled at the sudden cracking of a branch nearby and bolted upright, expecting to see her father or an animal of some sort. She was partially right.

"Well, well, well, what have we here, boys? It looks like we've stumbled across a little alien right in our own backyard." The speaker was a boy, not much older than her, who smirked nastily at his two friends as they approached her. "You're a long way from home aren't you, little alien?"

Pushing herself swiftly into a crouch, feeling threatened by their feral posture, Irisa's fingers closed instinctively over one of her knives while her other hand was poised for the other to drop from her wrist sheath to her palm. She kept her back to the water so they couldn't come up behind her and eyed them warily as they moved closer.

"Cat got your tongue, alien?" another of the boys asked as he and the first speaker came at her from different sides while the third boy noticed the camp at the front of the small cave and went to investigate. When she took a step forward in silent protest of his invasion, the other two came at her suddenly and she was forced to move back again.

When the one digging through their belongings suddenly held up one of her journals, Irisa's eyes narrowed in fury, prompting laughter from the boys closest to her and the leader called over his shoulder, "Hey, Cal, that got a reaction! How about you drop that into the fire and we'll see what she does then?"

"Sure, Dex!" When Cal started to toss the book in the direction of the fire, they got a reaction, just not one they'd expected. The Irathient girl let fly with one of her knives as hard as she could and buried it in the kid's shoulder, knocking him back, screaming his head off. She threw another one at the leader and made a desperate lunge on his side of the rock as she tried to run for the packs where the guns were stowed.

She didn't make it and went crashing to the ground as the third boy tackled her. While she was being held down, Dex went over to Cal, pulled the knife out, and wrapped a quick bandana over the wound, "You're fine, cuz, just a scratch really. Come on; let's go have some fun with the little alien Brett's holding down."

The leader of the little pack grabbed a couple of ropes from a pack and approached the pair on the ground, "Hold her tight, Brett; I'm gonna tie these on her wrists and we'll truss her up between a couple of trees."

Hearing those words, seeing the ropes, feeling them knot over the scars already adorning her wrists, Irisa went wild. Hissing like a hellcat, she bucked desperately to get free, fighting for all she was worth, but in the end, she simply wasn't a match for the three larger human males. When Cal and Dex pulled the ropes tight, forcing her arms out to either side of her, the young female finally gave them what they wanted and screamed.

Memories flooded Irisa, overwhelming her until she simply couldn't focus on anything but the terror and horror of her childhood. Her parents hadn't wanted her, they had wanted a boy, not the thin, scrawny thing they'd been given; not the girl-child whose appearance in their lives gave them a mouth to feed they didn't need and sterilized her mother with her birth. Resenting her, hating her more and more every day, they finally chained her between two posts outside their home so that her movements were completely restricted, her tiny feet barely able to reach the ground. Her parents, the people who were supposed to love her, take care of her, protect her, became her jailers, her tormentors, her abusers.

By the time Nolan had appeared in the town they lived in and tracked a killer he'd been hired to find past their house, she had been a pitiful, emaciated, caricature of a child. He'd been so enraged by their treatment of her that when they tried to physically protest his cutting her free, Josh had killed both her parents without any qualms and took her away. He had been the one to wrap her bleeding wrists in soft cloths and tenderly cleaned and treated the myriad wounds covering her back from beatings. He had been the one to sooth away the nightmares and slowly helped her to live again.

The three boys were delighted to have finally gotten a response from the alien girl and took great joy in tormenting her with brutal slaps to the face, punches to her sides and abdomen. All the while, Irisa fought the ropes that held her tied between two large trees, writhing and screaming as she tried to escape her memories. They were so engrossed in their own little world that they missed the sound of a roller pulling up and their first clue that someone was going to die was the roar of fury from the camp behind them.

When Nolan reached the area he'd left his daughter, he parked the vehicle in its spot behind the outcropping of rock and got out. The shrieks and laughter were audible immediately and when he came around the rocks, his blood ran cold at the sight of the girl hanging by ropes, his ropes, from his own pack, while three boys beat her. Everything around him faded into a red haze as rage overwhelmed him and he charged the kids who dared to lay hands on his child.

Dex was the first to fall before the man's anger, dropping without a sound as his neck was broken by the powerful, well trained hands of a former soldier. Cal, already bearing a wound from Irisa's blade, didn't stand a chance when Nolan's arm wrapped around his throat from behind, cutting off his oxygen supply while Brett fell to a perfectly aimed gunshot to the heart. Dropping the limp boy from his grasp, Josh yanked out a knife and swiftly cut the still screaming Irathient girl free. As he expected, as soon as the ropes fell, Irisa scuttled back away from him, hissing and growling hysterically, until her back met the large rock behind her. Once there, she crouched into as small a target as she could make herself and muttered soft curses in his general direction.

Nolan didn't take offense, she couldn't help herself and was currently caught in a flashback, but there was nothing he could do to break her out of it at the moment. Once she settled a bit and was able to focus on her surroundings, Irisa would be approachable. Right now, getting too close would only earn him a large number of bite marks at best and a blade in the throat at worst. So, to give her time and remove the evidence of her torment, the tracker lugged the bodies of the three boys well away from their area, and placed them under a rocky outcropping. Once they were shoved in, he used one of the pulse guns he had and fired at the small ledge to bring it down and completely cover the bodies. He didn't regret killing them, after all their cruelty had put his daughter through hell and she was still huddled in a hissing ball where he left her; his only regret was that he hadn't gotten back sooner to prevent the tragedy.

Returning to camp, Josh unloaded the roller and set out the food he'd purchased, hoping the smell would help to pull the girl from her past, and built up the fire knowing she would need its warmth. It took a little longer than he'd thought it would, but slowly Irisa began to uncoil from her crouch as her language gradually moved from likening his ancestors to incestuous excrement in her native tongue to quietly calling for him in English.

As soon as he heard his name, Nolan rose and approached her slowly; waiting until she lifted those unearthly eyes to meet his own so he knew she was actually back in the present time. Once she did, the former soldier came near and eased down to kneel in front of her as he whispered her name. Without breaking eye contact with him she lifted her wrists to him in a silent appeal for removal of the ropes still on her from where he'd cut her down. As gently as he could, Josh slid a thin, sharp blade through each one, growling angrily at the blood that dripped sluggishly from the burns and cuts from her struggles. He took a small bottle of ointment out and a couple of bandages he'd placed in his pocket out and carefully wrapped each slender wrist after slathering them with the medicine.

As soon as he was done, Irisa crawled into his lap with a soft whimper, burrowing her head against his and tucking her face into the hollow of his neck as her arms locked around him. The tracker pulled her closer and lightly stroked his fingers through her fiery hair as he murmured to her soothingly and rocked back and forth. When he felt her relax slightly, Josh slipped one arm under her legs and rose, lifting her as he did, and carried her back to the fire where he set her down on her bedroll and sat beside her. Reaching back, he grabbed a blanket and placed it over her shoulders before picking up the food he'd gotten in town and handing it to her. One thing he could count on was her willingness to eat anytime, anywhere; a holdover from her childhood when her parents starved her regularly.

They ate in silence and when it was gone, Irisa neatly balled everything up and handed to him to go with his trash. Josh leaned back against the rock wall behind him with his legs stretched out and the Irathient girl curled up on her side, pillowing her head on his thigh. Indulging in some paternal neediness, he made sure the blanket was completely covering her before slowly carding his fingers through the bright hair nestled so trustingly against him. After several minutes of silence, Irisa began to talk softly, detailing what had happened when the boys showed up. When she expressed regret for her weakness in not being able to fight them off and her inability to beat back the terror of the ropes, Nolan shushed her.

"Kiddo, you have nothing to be sorry about. I'm the one who should be apologizing to you for not being here or getting back faster so things didn't get as far as they did." The tracker was mentally castigating himself for the extra time he'd spent in town; knowing if he'd not wandered in and out of stores, he would have been here before the boys had.

"Stop, Nolan; if I can't wallow in self-pity, you can't either," Irisa scolded.

He smiled down at her lovingly and smoothed back some hair that fluttered across her cheek, "I know it doesn't make up for what happened, but I found some things in town I picked up for you." He tugged a pack closer and brought out items wrapped in heavy paper. The smile faded when she sat up too fast, reaching eagerly for the gifts, and hissed softly in pain. He pulled the blanket away, "Where are you hurting?"

She slowly eased her shirt up higher, worried about his reaction. The girl knew it would be bad considering how it felt at the moment, but she hadn't actually looked at it herself yet. When he let loose with curses in several languages, Irisa pulled back slightly to stare at him in surprise, "Really? Could you repeat what you just said in Indogene about their mothers so I can repeat it later in front of others to embarrass you?"

He had the grace to flush slightly at her teasing tone. Josh had tried hard over the years since finding and raising Irisa to modify his cursing around her, not wanting her to grow up hearing such words, but at times, his mouth got away from his brain. His fingers were gentle as he probed the livid bruises on her abdomen and ribs; he hated to cause her more pain, but he had to make sure she didn't have any broken ribs.

"This is going to hurt, kiddo, but I've got to check for damage." At her nod, he began pressing deeper and firmer, gritting his teeth against her soft gasps of pain when he'd hit a particularly sore spot. Josh was sweating as much as she was by the time he was done. "Nothing's broken, but you're going to be very sore and colorful for several days until this heals. Soaking in the water several times a day may help with some of the swelling if you're up to it."

Tugging her shirt back down, Irisa voiced her understanding before staring pointedly at the presents he'd brought her. The man grinned; it didn't matter what planet you came from, kids were kids everywhere and his daughter was no exception in her love of gifts. He suspected it stemmed back from when she was with her parents and wasn't given anything but abuse.

He gave her the knives first and saw her eyes darken in reverence as she stroked her fingers over the handles which were made from stag antlers that had been burnt to give them a beautiful antique look. With her Irathient blood and love of nature, he knew she would relish the feel of the natural material rather than something synthetic. When she looked up at his with a huge smile, he knew he'd been right.

"They're amazing, Nolan, thank you." Irisa shifted them experimentally from hand to hand, testing weight and balance, and found that they would not be good for throwing, but would be excellent for anything up close and they fit into her wrist sheath perfectly.

Once she was done playing with the blades, Josh handed her the second package and watched her face closely as she opened it. This time, her eyes lit up with eagerness as she ran caressing fingers over the books, opening them to flip through the blank pages as she imagined putting her thoughts down on the clean white pages. She picked up the sketchbook next, giving it an odd look since she hadn't used one before, thinking it was an oversized journal for her to write in.

"It's a sketchbook, kiddo; I know that you like to draw sometimes and this will give you a place to do that rather than in your journals."

Irisa graced him with a big grin and cautious hug (to prevent a surge of pain) at the thought of being able to draw on larger paper without taking up space in her books. She could and would still use small sketches to emphasize something she was writing about in them, but now she had something completely devoted to art. The girl curled back up in her original position with her head on his leg as she hugged the books to her and basked in the warm glow of his love and care.

She dozed off and on the rest of the afternoon, jerking awake from nightmares periodically to the comforting presence of her father who rested beside her like an unmoving sentinel. As the sun began to fade, Nolan woke the girl so he could move and get dinner going, sending her to the pool to soak her aching body for a while. He had some fresh veggies he'd gotten in town that he cut up and seasoned, then added some of the meat chunks, roots, and water to make a nice stew. Once they had both eaten their fill, the tracker brought out one final surprise for his daughter.

"What is that?" Irisa studied the offering in her father's hand.

"That, my darling girl, is a divine creation known as Twinkies."

She poked at the cellophane wrappings that encompassed the golden cakes suspiciously, "Uh-huh. And what are they?"

Nolan unwrapped one and held it out to her with a small container of milk he'd managed to lay hands on as well, "They're a type of cake with cream in the middle. Try it before you pass judgment."

Gingerly, she accepted the offerings, sniffing at the spongy thing and studying it closely, "It smells fresh, but how long has it been around?"

He shrugged as he opened one for himself and chomped a huge bite out of it with a blissful sigh, "They have a very long shelf life, thank goodness, and are absolutely heavenly. Taste it."

She took a tiny nibble, "Doesn't taste like much."

"You barely got any in your mouth; take an actual bite."

Screwing up her face in a way that made the man chuckle softly, Irisa bit off a larger piece and chewed. When her eyes flared wide in surprise, Josh laughed outright before having to wrestle the rest of the Twinkies away from the Irathient girl when she dove at them.

"Moderation, kiddo, moderation!"

"Screw that, gimmie the damn things!"

He was pretty sure that the only reason he was able to prevent her from inhaling the remaining cakes was that fact that she was injured and unable to knife him; but he did allow her one more. That was quite possibly a mistake when his daughter, unused to eating such delicacies, spent the next couple of hours on a major sugar high. Nolan made a mental note that any time he wanted to get the girl to talk more, all he had to do was feed her sweets, because for the first time since he'd adopted her, Irisa actually carried on a lengthy conversation with him rather than clamming up after a couple of minutes.

When she crashed, she did so quickly and with very little fanfare. She had been sprawled out on her back, still pillowing her head on his leg, talking up a storm and gesturing dramatically (what he wouldn't have done for a video camera), when she went quiet and her arms dropped to her side. Looking down at her, the tracker found her sound asleep so he pulled her blanket back over her, tucking it around her so she didn't get chilled, and smiled.

"Sleep tight, kiddo; I love you."


End file.
